Every NFL Free Agency deal has two sides, the on-field impact and fantasy football fallout. Eddie Lacy joins the Seattle Seahawks, and we debate the effects.
For three years now, the lure of Eddie Lacy has drawn in fantasy football owners. He plays his siren song, garners a first-round pick, sucks, and then gets hurt. This has been his M.O. ever since a quality start to his career built such expectations in the first place. He was great as a rookie, accumulating more than 1,100 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
The following season, he was almost as good, though many expected him to take that next step. It never happened. The following two seasons were completely lost. He was a first-round bust through and through.
Now, entering the 2017 NFL season, Lacy is out of Green Bay and set to repeat his cycle for another fan base. Or is he? Will Lacy on the Seattle Seahawks spell success for fantasy football owners?
Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, discuss Fantasy Football in today's NFL Sports Debate.
Todd Salem:
Where do you stand on Eddie Lacy as a Seattle Seahawk? Color me concerned. For one, he reportedly has weight guidelines built into his contract. That is not how you want to start a relationship. Two, he is learning a new system for a new team, obviously. Three, the starting running back job is not definitively his with Thomas Rawls around to battle for carries and C.J. Prosise set to return from injury and build off of his breakout. And four, Lacy is not an asset in the passing game, limiting his upside even if he was a full-time starter.
I've been burned multiple times by Lacy, the every-down back. To think his value is now going to rise joining a new team is foolish. He has to be placed in the group of middle tier running backs who are no sure things to warrant starting 16 times.
More from NFL Spin Zone
To me, he is in that tier with Mark Ingram or Spencer Ware or even "Fat Rob" (Robert Kelley) in Washington, except I would choose Lacy last among them. They don't have a ton of upside at this point, but are quality options for second backs on a fantasy team. Just don't pick Lacy to be your lead back this season.
Dan Salem:
Eddie Lacy is not a first tier running back in fantasy football, but he hasn't been in several years. Those magically great seasons where you get a player for cheap and he blows away expectations are truly hard to shake They stick with guys and fool fantasy owners for years on end. Despite Lacy's rather permanent fall from the upper echelon, I'm a bit higher on his place in Seattle's offense and your fantasy roster. He is a solid second option at running back this season.
The Seattle Seahawks seem to swap running backs more than 95 percent of teams in the NFL. Due to injury or otherwise, someone new is constantly shining in the Seattle backfield. That is not an indictment, however. The Seahawks are an excellent football team and run the ball very well. It's true that Seattle already has potentially two very good running backs, but neither is the type of player that Lacy is. The Seahawks brought in Lacy to fill the void that keeps injuring its other backs. They want him to get the hard yards and run with power. He can't be too fat, because that would make him slow, but his roll seems well defined in the offense.
In my not so humble opinion, Lacy will be Seattle's red zone running back at the very least. He will get the ball on third-and-short, or whenever there are fewer than five yards to gain. He is the muscle, keeping Prosise and Rawls healthy to gain those larger chunks of yards elsewhere. What does that mean for your fantasy team? It means I'd love Lacy as my second running back, or touchdown back as I like to call him.
It's possible that Lacy is an even bigger bust this season, but why would the Seahawks bring him in and incentivize him to be strong (but not fat) if they didn't see great potential to utilize him on offense? Seattle is a winning team, so the answer is they wouldn't. They see a specific role for Lacy and its going to get him in the endzone. Don't pick him too high, but steal him earlier before someone else does. This is a team dependent pick and I trust the Seattle Seahawks.
